Former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort Surrenders to FBI in First Mueller Indictment

Manafort Ran Trump Campaign for Five Months

The political operative and foreign government lobbyist Paul Manafort, who ran then-candidate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign from March through August 2016, has just surrendered to the FBI. Manafort is the first person to be indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s interference in the U.S. election. 

Manafort surrendered at 8:15 AM EDT.

Also told to surrender to the FBI is Rick Gates, a former business associate of Manafort who also worked on the Trump campaign.

Manafort began work on the Trump campaign in March of 2016. In June he became Trump’s campaign chairman.

“The charges against Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman were not immediately clear but represent a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over the president’s first year in office,” The New York Times, which first reported Manafort and Gates were the targets of Mueller’s first indictment, reports.

Mr. Gates is a longtime protégé and junior partner of Mr. Manafort. His name appears on documents linked to companies that Mr. Manafort’s firm set up in Cyprus to receive payments from politicians and businesspeople in Eastern Europe, records reviewed by The New York Times show.

Mr. Manafort had been under investigation for violations of federal tax law, money laundering and whether he appropriately disclosed his foreign lobbying.

An April 2016 Washington Post article offers some insight into Trump’s choice of Manafort as his campaign chair.

Manafort, 67, is in many ways a natural choice to be Trump’s top campaign adviser. His firm was hired by Trump in the mid-1980s to lobby on gambling and real estate issues, said Manafort’s former business partner Charlie Black. In addition, Manafort has owned an apartment in Trump Tower since January 2015, property records show. And another former Manafort business partner, Roger Stone, has been an informal adviser to Trump for years.

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